Alterations of Time
by RanSto
Summary: Harry Potter was destined to stop Voldemort from the moment he was born. This time, he was destined to befriend Tom before he ever became the Dark Lord. What changes does this spell out for the wizarding world?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: To make it clear from the beginning, I am not picking up this story again. It is remaining abandoned completely, unless someone decides they would like to take inspiration from it and make a similar story of their own.**

 **This is just a slight edit to the first chapter I had already written, fixing it up with my improved writing ability. A longer winded and pointlessly detailed explanation will be given at the bottom of this page, as well as some notes on what I planned to do with the story when I first started it years ago.**

Harry stroked the brush across his painting, adding another streak of green to one of the tree tops. Landscapes were always his favourite thing to paint. They had a distinct beauty to them unique to their specific location, yet were still open to his own interpretation.

This particular painting was of the garden a few blocks away, where he had gone on a field trip a few days ago. The scene wasn't particularly spectacular but it was calming.

The door to the small room opened behind him and Harry turned from his half completed piece to see Tom walk into the room. His hands were clasped behind his back, seemingly in an attempt to hide something, not that Harry had to take too many guesses as to exactly what that something was.

"You really should stop that you know. It's a bad habit." The other boy shrugged in response, opening the trunk at the end of his bed and depositing the items he had stolen into it.

"None of it is important, and they do the same to us, so why shouldn't I?" Unwilling to start any kind of argument at the moment Harry simply sighed and turned back to his painting.

"Do you plan on actually completing this one?" Tom sounded curious, though Harry doubted it was little more than a tease.

"Maybe. Mrs. Cole said if I do she'll hang it up in the lobby." Tom snorted but didn't say any more. He doubted that witch of a caretaker would do any such thing but there was no sense in shattering his friend's hopes, naive as they may be.

His friendship with Harry was rather complicated. They had been left at the orphanage only two months apart and had similar appearances. For a long while they had been under the impression they were brothers. In fact they had only accepted the reality of it little over a year previous.

In the end, they had decided, the difference between brotherhood and friendship didn't amount to much. Some less arguments over who was the elder brother, but that was about it.

What truly made their friendship complicated however, is their wild differences. While Tom had a silver tongue that he used to his full advantage and was rather vengeful, Harry favored a more honest, and occasionally downright blunt, approach to things.

He never planned things out or thought about most thing at length. If something came up Harry dealt with it then and there, or at least as soon as he possibly could. Otherwise he just let things go.

Tom didn't. Whether that was because he was incapable of it or just preferred it that way, he just couldn't find it in himself to forgive or forget. Unlike Harry, who had no capacity for true hatred, he was fully capable of delving into the dark.

A knock on the door interrupted Tom's thoughts. Expecting Mrs Cole, the primary caretaker of the orphanage, to walk through the door he fixed it with a glare preemptively.

Unexpectedly, it was a man that walked through the door. The man was old, not elderly but decidedly past middle aged. He appeared kindly enough, though obviously someone deserving of high esteem.

Both boys were immediately on guard. They were rarely bothered in their room. It was for that reason they considered it to be their sanctuary. For an intruder to invade that space so casually was good reason to make them wary.

Harry was the first to speak, asking the most apparent question.

"Who are you?" The man's lips spread into a small smile. It was, perhaps, the most condescending expression Tom had ever been privileged to.

"You may call me Dumbledore. I'm a professor. The two of you must be Harry and Tom." Met with no argument, Dumbledore continued. "Do you know why I'm here?"

Harry tried to think of any reason why a professor would come to see them in particular. It had happened a few times in the past and they happened to be some of his least favorite memories.

"I have no doubt that both of you have noticed how strange things seem to happen to you two frequently, more often than not intentionally. Can you explain that to me?" He didn't seem to expect a response, yet his eyes still gleamed with a curious sort of hope.

A hope that was quickly shattered by Tom. "No, and I don't see the need for a professor to come and ask us about it."

Dumbledore focussed on him. "The reason is quite simple, I am no ordinary professor. You see, I'm a wizard, and you two will be as well soon enough."

The claim was answered with silence, though if the boys' expressions were anything to go by this was due more in part to disbelief than amazement.

"Can you prove it?" Not a moment after asking, Tom's chest burst into flames. Harry, who was actually closer to the chest than Tom, hastily jerked away from it.

Tom, on the other hand, was merely struck with a moment of shock. Once it passed he calmly stood and retrieved the items stored inside.

"Thievery is not tolerated at Hogwarts Tom. There you will be taught not only how to use magic, but how to control it." Dumbledore stood then, pulled two files from under his coat, handed them to the boys, and left.

 **OoOoO**

"Tom?"

"What is it?"

"What do you think it will be like? Hogwarts, I mean." A moment of silence followed the question.

"I don't know, but it can't be worse than here." Harry hummed quietly in agreement.

For once, both boys slept peacefully.

 **OoOoO**

"Ah - thirteen and one half inch, yew wood, with a phoenix feather core. A very powerful wand, I have no doubt you will do great things with it." The kindly young wandmaker pulled out his own wand, waving it over Tom's while whispering.

A plume of blue smoke rose from the wand resting atop the counter, shaping itself into a short line of symbols unfamiliar to the boys.

The symbols were clearly anything but unfamiliar to Ollivander however, who held a momentary expression of surprise before blowing the smoke away.

"Curious, very curious. Your wand has a Merlin Capacity of seventy-three percent. It is one of the highest I have ever seen." Both boys standing on the other side of the counter gave him a questioning look.

"What is a Merlin Capacity?" Ollivander's brow rose as he handed over Tom's wand.

"You haven't heard of it before? Forgive me if I sound a tad incredulous, usually even muggle-born students have this explained to them by their guides before entering this shop." All three spared a glance out the window to the rather impatient man waiting outside who couldn't seem to go more than a few seconds without checking his watch.

"The ministry really should do a better job on this sort of thing. I suppose it's up to me to educate you two then.

In the wizarding world we used what is commonly referred to as the Merlin Scale to measure magical power - 0 being a muggle and 100 being Merlin. A Merlin Capacity is a unit of measurement that refers to the absolute limit a person or object has on the Merlin Scale. In the case of a wand, a Merlin Capacity determines the amount of magical energy that the wand can utilize. To my knowledge, no one has ever reached over eighty-three before." Tom adopted a speculative look while Harry frowned, then voiced his concern.

"Does that mean we'll have the same magical power forever?" Ollivander shook his head and chuckled softly.

"Not at all. Your Merlin Scale rating grows until you turn seventeen, when your magical core becomes fully developed. A large portion of your growth is natural, but part of it does come from how much a witch or wizard pushes themselves. Most your age would currently have a Merlin Scale rating of anywhere from twenty-five to thirty."

"And how do we discover our Merlin Scale rating?"

"Most pureblood families test their children shortly before entering Hogwarts. However, the spell is quite simple. You should be able to cast it very easily if you look it up in the library at Hogwarts."

"Thank you for the lesson, sir." Tom barely remembered to force out the last word, unused to giving such respect to anyone in his speech.

"It was my pleasure. Now, shall we pair you with a wand of your own?" Ollivander gave a pointed look to Harry, who adopted quite a serious expression and gave a curt nod.

Little over an hour later Harry found himself quite happily paired with a wand thirteen inches long, made of elder wood and phoenix feather core. The reaction the wand had with him was unlike anything he had ever experienced. A powerful wind had swept through the shop, throwing many things about and even causing the three people inside to stumble.

Ollivander was grinning like a madman as he waved his wand over it. "Elder wood is very rarely used in wands, and even more rarely chooses a master. Many wand makers refuse to use it due to superstitions of its dangers. In truth it is nothing more than temperamental and picky, somewhat like a child." Harry frowned. The way he said that sounded a bit accusational.

"Of course once mastered, elder wood proves to be more powerful than any other wood. As a student of wandlore I hold firm in the belief that no wand is superior to another, but the results elder wood produces cannot be argued with." Blue smoke once again rose into the air, and Ollivander quirked his eyebrows as he read it.

"A Merlin Capacity of one hundred percent? Curious." Harry shared a glance with Tom, who looked a bit envious.

"How much do the wands cost, and is there anything else you would recommend?" The question caused the man to snap his head up, murmuring something about research as he handed Harry his wand.

"Ten galleons per wand, and I would recommend you both buy wand holsters. As first year students you will not need them but it is best to prepare for the future. If you have any interest in it I would also advise you to purchase a book on the basics of wandlore. Even if you never plan on making a career out of the subject it is useful knowledge to have."

 **OoOoO**

Stepping into the compartment of the train, Tom smirked. Mere minutes ago he made his first connection in the wizarding world. Abraxas Malfoy, so easy to manipulate. Many of the purebloods seemed to be just the same, arrogant yet mentally weak.

He gave a sidelong glance to Harry, who was stowing their trunks away. His friend was someone he could trust implicitly, but was not suited towards...influencing others. Still, he had his talents, just as Tom had his.

Both were rather sure of the Houses they would be going into, Tom into Slytherin and Harry into Ravenclaw. They both had ambitions and sought knowledge of course, but Tom was more cunning and Harry more wise.

Not that Tom would ever admit that out loud. Harry wasn't the type that would hold it against him, but his pride was a sensitive beast. One of the reasons he supposed Harry was the wiser of them.

Regardless, they sat across from each other and waited for the train to start moving in comfortable silence. Tom watched other students on the platform, making plans to build a group of followers.

The idea was ambitious, to be sure, but that is what made him a true Slytherin after all. While others would be content to have some amount of friends and make a career, he wanted more. Up until now he never had a way to control his life, never had any power. He would be a fool to pass up the opportunity magic gave him.

Harry, meanwhile, was reading a book about the magic behind animated paintings and photos. It seemed the charms necessary wouldn't be taught until third year, but he was willing to work ahead. In fact, those level of charms were only a little ways off from his current level. He and Tom had been practising and learning everything about magic they could since their trip to Diagon Alley.

As it turned out, their wands were optional. Using them was definitely much easier, and spells were more powerful, but they limited them. There were very few spells the ministry allowed to be used by underaged wizards outside of school, and most of them they had mastered in a week.

Buying extra books was definitely the right choice. The fund for muggle born students was rather generous, providing more than strictly necessary for basic school supplies. It was the Potter Trust Fund, if he remembered correctly. If he ran into anyone from that family at Hogwarts, he would need to thank them.

Then again, that might give far too friendly an impression than Harry wanted, which was exactly what he wanted to avoid. If there was one thing Harry had learned throughout his years in muggle schools, it was that friendly personalities were always the first targets of bullies.

The train began moving, and the door to their compartment opened.

"Oh, hello. I didn't expect anyone to be in here." Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. While technically polite, such redundant statements tended to aggravate him.

"Clearly." Tom scowled at him, which Harry ignored.

"Don't be so rude, Harry." Tom turned to the girl. "Would you like us to leave?" Harry raised his eyebrow. Despite whatever he might say, Tom wouldn't actually go through the effort of leaving the compartment. In fact he was more likely to bully the girl into leaving.

"Oh no! I'm sorry if I bothered you, but you see...all the other compartments are full. Would you mind if I sat here?" Harry almost spoke up before he caught sight of Tom's glare. So instead he bit his tongue and allowed his friend to do the talking.

"Of course not. I'm Tom by the way, Tom Riddle. And who would you be?" The girl smiled and shook Tom's outstretched hand.

"I'm Luna Lovegood, thank you." Tom nodded and closed the compartment door as she walked inside. Before she could do anything Harry stood and took hold of her trunk, lifting and putting it away.

"Thank you…" Tom smirked at him as he sat down.

"His name is Harry. Please don't take offense if he doesn't say much. He's not very sociable, but a good person nonetheless." Luna smiled politely, apparently at a lack of anything to say.

The rest of the ride passed in relative peace. Harry reading his book, Luna and Tom alternating between conversing and doing reading of their own. At one point though the conversation took an odd turn that managed to gain Harry's interest.

"Nargles?" Luna seemed startled at his sudden interruption.

"Yes. Their existence is only a theory at the moment, but they're thought to be responsible for the disappearance of unimportant objects. Things like the second sock in your drawer or the shoelace on an old boot." An amused smile graced Harry's lips.

Glancing at Tom, his smile morphed into a mischievous grin. "If these nargles are simple thieves then I may have found the proof to their existence - perhaps they are all brown haired boys named Tom." The glare said boy fixed on Harry was frigid enough to freeze the sun.

"The only crime I am guilty of is retaliation-"

"Through theft."

"And if you insist on calling it thievery I may as well call what you did to Jonathan bullying." The smile on Harry's face lessened.

Luna looked between the two boys, unsure of whether or not she should interject. The conversation had quickly turned from teasing to argumentative, and now both the boys appeared to be upset.

"I'm sure you both had your reasons for whatever you did." Reminded of an outsider's presence, Tom collected himself.

"At the orphanage the other children don't like us much, so they steal our things. I steal their things in response, until our items are returned. I'm not sure how much reason _he_ had behind hospitalizing Jonathan though." Luna went wide-eyed and turned her gaze over to Harry.

"What I did was a bit much. I had already given him multiple warnings though, and he should have known not to ruin my painting." Luna edged away from the raven-haired boy slightly, just enough to be noticeable.

Realizing that his friend was too inept to properly defend himself, Tom heaved a small sigh before explaining it himself.

"There's really no cause for so much alarm, Harry's description is rather blunt. Jonathan is a frequent pest that finds amusement in bothering us however he can. One of his favorite games used to be practicing his throwing aim by tossing rocks at Harry. He got quite good at it too, before Harry pushed him from a two story window." Luna let out a gasp.

"Oh calm down. Harry didn't do it intentionally, they were in the middle of a fight and he was just trying to shove him to the ground. Jonathan really was stupid to bother Harry though. He's well known for his lack of restraint in these matters." That seemed to calm her down some, as the relaxing of her muscles was painfully obvious. She needed to learn how to be more subtle.

The train began slowing down, and they all looked out the window to see them approaching their stop. Thankfully they had the foresight to change into their school robes earlier, so there was no need to rush now.

Out on the platform the older students walked off from the first years, who gathered around an elderly man.

"This way first years, into the boats!" He called out to them. His voice was surprisingly loud for his age.

Once everyone was loaded inside the boats they went off towards the castle. As they approached Harry had to admit to himself that the view was impressive, though not enough to warrant a gasp of amazement as it had from his fellow first years. He would have to come out on the lake some time to paint it.

The boats came to a stop by some stone docks in an alcove of the castle, where the elderly man led them up a flight of stairs to a large pair of doors.

"Wait here children, while I see if headmaster Dippet has finished his speech." The man disappeared through the doors, leaving the children to converse among themselves.

Many of the students already knew each other, or at least each other's families. Apparently politics and socialization were important even at their age.

It quickly became apparent what the subtle lines between the different groups were, who was important and who wasn't. Surprisingly, nearly everyone fit into some group.

Harry and Tom shared a look, the latter a frustrated one.

"Riddle, get over here." Tom and Harry looked over to see a well groomed blonde boy calling Tom over to his group.

Without hesitation Tom joined them, leaving Harry bored and alone. Thankfully he didn't have to wait long, as only a few minutes later the elderly man came back through the doors.

"Alright, line up. Single file. When inside be quiet and stand still. This is an important occasion and we can't have you acting like children." There was a chorus of nods. The man gave them all a suspicious look before nodding and leading them inside.

A stool sat in front of the table where all the teachers sat, and an old black hat waited on it.

"Now let the sorting begin." There was some small applause among the students as the elderly man called the first student up to the stool.

Harry largely ignored where everyone else was sorted, only noting that Luna was placed in Ravenclaw. When it came to the Rs, and he was called, Harry made his way to the stool. The hat was placed on top of his head, and immediately he felt a presence inside his mind. It was nothing forceful, feeling more like he had simply discovered another part of his own mind rather than been connected to another one.

" _You're expecting Ravenclaw I see. Slytherin may suit you, as might Gryffindor. Perhaps Hufflepuff may provide what you need most, however. Hmmm..."_ there was a pause, and then -

" **Ravenclaw!** "

Polite clapping came from the hall. Harry stood and went to sit with his new house-mates. The rest of the sorting wasn't something he paid attention to, except for Tom getting sorted into Slytherin and Luna into Ravenclaw.

The blonde, for reasons beyond him, quickly took a seat by his side despite his scowl. Although he doubted his scowl made a difference since it didn't look all that mean. The feast lasted for about half an hour, longer than Harry was comfortable with.

After the Prefects explained how getting into the common room worked (which was a flawed system in Harry's opinion, anyone even slightly clever could get through, and it would just be ignorant to assume there was nobody clever outside of their house), he immediately went to the dorm room.

Inside were six four poster beds with bronze colored wood and dark blue sheets and curtains. On the top of each of the bed's corners were stone ravens. Faintly glowing blue runes were carved along the beds' trim.

Harry wondered what they did, but placed the query into the back of his mind for later. With some amount of satisfaction he claimed a bed in the corner and placed silencing charms around it. Those specific charms would be taught near the end of second year.

Somewhat childishly Harry jumped onto the bed, landing on his back and sinking into the covers with a sigh. He pulled the curtains closed and pushed his trunk under the bed.

Deciding he was done for the day Harry burrowed himself into the blankets, not bothering to change out of his clothes.

 **A/N: I suppose I'll get right to it and just say that the reason I made these edits is because I was bored. When I was trying to think of something to do I thought I might as well take a look at some of my old writing. The problem with that is I don't actually have any of it at this point, and my old fanfiction account was the only place I knew I could find some.**

 **It was pleasantly surprising to read the first chapter of this and realize it wasn't absolute rubbish. There were a few things that bothered me though, and so I decided to improve what was already here just for the heck of it and, while I was at it, go ahead and replace the old version.**

 **Now for the notes on what I had planned. To be honest the whole reason I abandoned this story in the first place was because I couldn't think of any conflict for it, or at least no minor conflicts to carry the story until the characters matured and brought about the central conflict themselves.**

 **I did plenty of worldbuilding, which I now realise at this point is actually something I enjoy more than actually writing out a story. But none of that really matters to you.**

 **The story, roughly, was supposed to show the gradual deterioration of Tom and Harry's friendship over the years. Eventually Harry would learn of Tom's darker side and a new, different prophecy would be given that destined the two of them to spell out each other's fall, or together change the wizarding world for the better.**

 **Tom, due to Harry's friendship, would have been less vindictive and hateful than in canon. As I spelled out quite clearly in the first chapter he, as a child that has always felt powerless, just wanted power. A perverse power the shape the world as he pleases, but still just power. As the years went on he would have had a repressed guilt growing within him which ultimately leads him to do more good than he ever did bad.**

 **Harry, due to his experiences growing up in the orphanage and having Tom as a friend, was obviously different from canon. Faced with bullying similar to the abuse of the Dursleys might have made him just as non-confrontational and afraid of being alone as in canon were it not for Tom. Tom's influence was meant to give him some confidence and replace his fear of rejection with anger at the injustices of the world.**

 **Dumbledore was going to be a fairly important influence for both boys. Tom would have found the man grating, further fueling his terrible actions if only to spite the man. Harry would have found the man to be wise and try to change himself to follow in Dumbledore's image, only to find as he matured that Dumbledore himself is not perfect, and end up deciding to just be himself.**

 **As for Luna, she's one of my favorite characters. In this story it was supposed to be shown that she is the real Luna's grandmother and namesake. Oh, and how could I have forgotten (can you tell I'm writing this after having already made the rest of the A/N?), since Harry needed a last name but his parentage was unknown the orphanage decided to give him Tom's last name. It doesn't make much sense and I should have come up with a better reason, but whatever.**

 **And that's everything. Thanks to anyone that read any part of this, and cheers to a new year. I hope the future is kind to you.**


	2. Chapter 2

The first week of classes were...dull. Advancing ahead of the class certainly had its benefits, but the boredom that came from it, in Harry's opinion, was barely worth it.

Then again, he hardly wanted to be like Weasley. The redhead was as close to incompetent without actually being incompetent as possible.

Maybe he could join a club? It was something he had been considering for a while. Most clubs were exclusive to third years and up, but there were a few available to first and second year students.

Flying club was one, which was worth serious consideration. It could be fun, and later on they would get to go through obstacle courses.

There were a few clubs based on the material in the elective classes, so that students could get an idea of what they were facing after third year. However, those were little more than study groups.

He sighed. All the interesting clubs, mainly duelling and sword combat, would be out of his reach for at least a few years.

 _And Tom's not going to be any help. He's too busy integrating himself in the pureblood social society that Slytherin house seems to be._ Harry grimaced. Since classes had started he had only seen his friend during meals, and they unfortunately had no classes together.

As much as he was loath to admit it...Harry needed a friend. Just as this thought entered his mind he turned the corner, coming face to face with Luna Lovegood.

A vague sense of amusement entered his mind.

"Hello Harry."

"Hello Luna." They stood there silently, neither knowing what to do.

"We have charms soon. We really should hurry." Harry smiled. Luna might not be a bad pick, as far as friends go. Nodding his agreement, they made their way to charms.

OoOoOo

"Today you will be learning the levitation charm. The incantation is _Wingardium Leviosa_. The wand movements are a counterclockwise quarter circle, starting at the nine position and moving to the six, followed by a quick flick downwards. Afterwards, simply direct the object under your control in any direction you want. Later in the year we will work on altering the position of the object while under the spell."

Harry looked down at the feather sitting on his desk. The levitation charm was one he and Tom had been doing before they even knew what magic was. By now he had completely mastered it.

"Professor, is there anything more challenging you could have me do? I already know this spell." The elderly man that had escorted the first years-Professor Dox-gave him a condescending smile.

"Have you? Please then, demonstrate to the class your expertise." Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

He raised his arm and released his from the holster strapped to his forearm. The sleek wooden figure of his wand to slide into Harry's hand, firmly coming to a rest in his grip.

Doing nothing more than simply pointing his wand at the feather, Harry willed it to float.

" , you completely ignored-" the rest of Dox's reprimand was cut off as the feather rose into the air, lazily doing circles while spinning in every direction.

"R-right. Excellent job, . Ten points to Ravenclaw." The professor was wide eyed as he stared at the now dropping feather.

"Thank you professor, but are there any harder charms?" Dox quickly shook himself out of his daze and turned to Harry.

"Yes. _Arresto Momentum_. It has no wand motion, simply flick your wand and aim it at the object you wish to slow the momentum of. I would recommend using the levitation charm to lift and drop a pebble for practise. Do not bother to look for it in your textbook. It is not included in the school's curriculum." Dox gave Harry a curt nod before moving on to help other students.

With a quick flick Harry conjured a pebble. He was mildly surprised Dox didn't do it for him, conjuration wasn't taught until fifth year, and only with small objects.

Launching the pebble upwards Harry took aim and whispered the incantation. The effect was obvious immediately, and Harry managed to stop the pebble completely nearly an inch above his desk.

He smiled resignedly. Perhaps he could try it with a bigger pebble?

OoOoOo

" , what have you done to my classroom!?" Harry looked away from the boulder that rested in the small crater it had created.

Without a hint of emotion Harry spoke. "I've put a hole in it." The professor looked back and forth from Harry to the crater, his face slowly turning a puce color.

"T-two hours detention! Tonight! Be here at seven o'clock sharp. Do you understand?" Harry shrugged. At least he would have something to do.

"I understand sir." Dox sighed.

"Right. Class is dismissed."

OoOoOo

"Why did you make a crater in the charms classroom Harry?" The raven-haired wizard gave Luna a half smile.

"Mostly it was because I wanted to test myself." She nodded, as if the explanation made perfect sense.

"And also because I thought it would be amusing to conjure a boulder in the middle of class." Luna let out a giggle, and Harry was rather taken aback. He made a girl _giggle?_

"You're very funny Harry. I'll see you in potions." The blonde walked down another hallway, leaving Harry not gaping (as that would be undignified), but very confused.

"I'm...I'm funny?" His question went unanswered, and all Harry could do was watch his new friend practically _skip_ away.

OoOoOo

Ton mentally cursed the children around him, but refrained from doing so out loud. It had taken nearly three weeks, but finally he had managed to get most of Slytherin house wrapped around his finger. Well, the first years anyways.

The majority of them were pathetic sniveling brats he didn't give a damn about. Some, however, would no doubt prove useful allies. True, they were the minority, but the minority was what made everything worth it.

Now he would be able to direct his efforts into his competition with Harry. For the past week his friend had been trouncing him in class, simply because he was too busy to put forth enough effort in class.

To the professors Tom must seem dreadfully...average. The word alone left a disgusted feeling in his mouth.

After being nothing special all his life, Tom was willing to be anything but average. Average, is what he was, what he used to be. Average, was no longer acceptable. Now that he had magic, average is that last thing Tom would ever be.

He wiped the growing look of anger and disgust off his face quickly, hoping the others hadn't noticed. Ah, they were listening to a story Abraxas was telling about the muggle farmers on his land. He laughed along as the blonde described burning down the house of a man that was late on rent.

Yes, even if he had to put up with these insufferable children, Tom would never be average again. Abraxas finished his story, and someone asked Tom what is was like growing up around muggles. Tom resisted the urge to beat the boy into a sobbing wreck.

"It was horrid…" And so began his quest.

OoOoOo

The next morning during breakfast Tom walked over to the Ravenclaw table and took the empty seat next to Harry. Nobody looked at them, it was common enough for Slytherins and Ravenclaws to sit with each other.

"Are you free tonight Harry?" He nodded, and Tom smiled, a real smile. Those were rare with him.

"Good. Meet me here after curfew tonight. I have something to show you." Before Harry could ask whatever it was Tom wanted to show him the taller boy stood and went back to the Slytherin table.

"I don't think he noticed me." Harry gave Luna a mildly sympathetic smile. Over the past month they had become much better friends, and during that time he noticed people had a habit of ignoring the blonde.

Part of it was definitely due to his stopping her problems with bullies, but most of it was that they found Harry more interesting.

Thinking about it, Harry couldn't help but smile. That third year Ravenclaw girl had looked absolutely terrified when he flipped her upside down and raised her near ten feet into the air.

He might have crossed the line when he said Luna wasn't the one she needed to be worried about being "loony". It didn't really matter to him though. He would not tolerate bullies, especially when those bullies were targeting his friends.

"How long have you known Tom, Harry?" Well, that wasn't exactly something he expected to hear.

"For as long as I can remember. Why?" Luna frowned, lightly shaking her head.

"Nothing really." He eyed her suspiciously for a minute, but let her odd behaviour slide as one of the girl's many quirks.

"Do you have any plans for the Christmas Ball?" Harry took a bite out of his apple, wondering what the motivation behind the question was. Instead of immediately answering, he asked a question of his own.

"Wizards celebrate Christmas?" Luna's smile brightened, it always did whenever she was informing him of something.

"Yes. It's a very important day to us. Our magic is strongest on Christmas, and you get gifts." Harry took on an amused sirk.

"I don't suppose there's a Santa in the wizarding world?" Again Luna's smile became a touch brighter.

"There is, though he's not an actual person. There are some theories behind it, but nobody really knows how everyone gets a gift from an unknown person every year. The gift is usually something you would want, but have some kind of need for. Last year I got a pair of socks."

Harry nearly laughed. That was one of the things he loved most about Luna. She could say something that was completely true and still make him chuckle when she said it, a normally difficult task.

"Hmm. Well I don't know about the ball. It doesn't sound like something I would be interested in. Besides, I can't dance." If he didn't know better, Harry would have said Luna looked disappointed.

"That's understandable. Nobody would want to embarrass themselves in front of the school." He lifted a brow. Did she really think he cared about what the school thought?

"I don't particularly care about any of that Luna. I just don't enjoy being around people, especially not during formal events." She frowned again.

"You don't seem to mind be around Tom." Harry was proud that he managed to keep from scowling at her.

"I don't mind being around you either, because you're my friend. It's the same with Tom, except he's more like a brother to me." She nodded her head, and they slipped into conversation about the magical properties of numbers. Apparently Luna knew a great deal, since her mum was a spell crafter.

OoOoOo

"Are you here Tom?" Harry didn't bother whispering, if there was a teacher nearby he would be heard anyway.

"Over here. Follow me." He looked over to see Tom standing by the other side of the entrance, pressed against the wall. He pushed himself off and began leading Harry through the halls.

"Where are we going?"

"Fifth floor. Just wait until we get there to ask questions. It's much easier to experience than explain." Harry complied and remained silent as they climbed up the steps to next floor.

Their journey was sort, but longer than Harry would have liked. When they came to a stop in front of a black wall, he raised his brow questioningly.

"A wall?" He didn't sound disbelieving, only asking for clarification . Tom shook his head, and Harry looked back.

In the short time he had taken to glance at Tom a door had appeared.

"It can only be found if you want to find it. I call it the Room of Requirement. All you have to do is think of something you want and it'll appear inside." Harry was impressed. The theory behind those charms alone was amazing.

The two boys entered, finding themselves surrounded by bookshelves. Brown plush seats with small tables next to them were spread out evenly among the shelves, some even taking place on the walkway above them. Harry thought they looked rather ugly.

"There are books on everything in here. Mostly I've been looking for lesser known kinds of magic, but I also read a couple of the basic curse and charms books. I even found the spell to discover your Merlin Scale rating." Harry mostly ignored what his friend was saying, choosing instead to pull out a book from one nearby shelves.

" _The Secrets of Having a True Familiar,"_ Harry grinned,"I wonder what there is on wandless magic." Tom made a noise of affirmation and made over to one of the plush seats, which he noticed had books piled onto the table next to it.

Tom picked up the book on top of the pile, a well kept together though obviously old green tome, and started flipping through its pages.

"You'll have to check your rating on your own. Only people that share the same blood can cast it on each other." He held the book out to Harry, opened to a page that gave a depiction of a man with smoke swirling around him, glowing numbers taking shape within.

Pulling out his wand, Harry gave the page a quick once over. Sure of his ability he cast the spell. The caster was supposed to move their wand in a swirl around the body while incanting ' _quam fortis'_.

As depicted smoke encircled and spun around his body, becoming thicker as the seconds ticked by. Two numbers came to a stop in front of Harry's eyes.

 _Ninety-three. Ollivander said average was twenty-five to thirty._

The smoke died down and Harry looked to see his friend looking excited. Tom almost seemed giddy.

"What did you get?" The excitement in his voice was obvious, even if Tom disguised it well.

"Ninety-three. What about you?" The smile was gone from Tom's face. That didn't bother him, Tom only ever smiled for real intentionally.

"Seventy-one." So he had more than twenty points over on him. That made sense, Harry always did have more control.

"What do you think the Headmaster has? Or Dumbledore. He's supposed to be one of the strongest wizards alive." Tom nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. As Harry began looking through the shelves he collapsed into his seat.

 _Twenty-two percent. That's how much better than me he is. I thought...I thought he might get fifty or sixty, but ninety-three?_ He let out an inaudible growl.

 _No Tom, control yourself. Harry doesn't know about the rituals. They're supposed to make you stronger. It's only a matter of time, only a matter of time until I'm better than him._

He watched Harry set down the small pile of books he had already managed to gain. Looking over to his own books, Tom felt a fire light within him.

He wasn't average, he never would be again, that was assured. But he wanted to be more than just better than average, he wanted to be the best. No matter what it took, he would surpass Harry.

 **The only thing I really feel I need to comment on is Harry being " ." While they aren't blood related (at least not closely), Tom and Harry see each other as brothers. Because Harry can't be " " here he just uses Tom's last name. Plus, if they wanted to, Harry and Tom could pass as brothers. Both of them have lanky body types, with similar hair color and facial features. Hopefully there isn't any confusion on that.**

 **Alright, well thanks for reading the second chapter of "Harry Potter and the Alterations of Time". R and R, F and F, update will be out next week.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, obviously I need to apologize, but in all honesty I'm surprised I've continued writing this story at all. I originally stopped because my other fic became much more popular than this one in a short amount of time, even though I had put it on hiatus. It depressed me.**

 **Now I see how silly that was. Oh well, sorry for the wait, hope you enjoy!**

"Stupify!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The two shouts went off at once, and Harry felt disappointed. Those were the two most basic duelling spells. That third years couldn't at least whisper them was pathetic.

Suddenly an idea came to him. When the next person fired off a spell, the Hufflepuff girl, he grinned. Flicking his finger he pushed some of his own magic into the spell to speed it up.

Needless to say, the Gryffindor was in for a shock when a simple leg binding hex blew them off the stage. In fact, everyone was surprised. Some were showering the Hufflepuff with praises while others crowded around the Gryffindor, offering him their support.

Professor Green didn't even notice Harry remaining in the corner, a small grin playing across his face.

Green quickly calmed the students, and both duelists thanked each other for a good match. He snorted. Their match had been anything but good. Both students had taken turns, turns, firing spells, yelling them off at the top of their lungs as they did so. Honestly, how did they ever expect to fight in a real duel?

" ! You've been watching our meeting for the past three weeks. Some of your fellow students have been complaining they can't learn anything when they're only watching. Why don't you show them how much you've managed to pick up?" Their was a mischievous glint in the professor's eye as he spoke.

Harry just shrugged and approached the stand. They are right though. No matter how much watching they do practise is the only way to perfect their skills.

Green called up another student, a fifth year Ravenclaw. So he was going against one of his house mates. Maybe the match would prove to be interesting after all.

They both bowed, and the older boy moved into a ready position.

"Begin!" His opponent flicked his wand and managed to impressively, at least to the other students, launch a silent spell.

Harry hesitated. Should he catch the spell? Dodge? He had no idea what it was since he hadn't heard an incantation, and the wand movements had been completely simplified.

The spell was only a few feet away, and Harry was forced to make a decision. He tilted to the side slightly, allowing the purple beam to pass right by him.

Some gasps came out from the audience. Were they actually impressed? Calculating where that spell was going was easy. After all his dueling practice with Tom, casting the levitation charm was more difficult than that.

The older Ravenclaw, for his part, didn't let up after the first spell. He started shouting out various incantations, and Harry once again felt disappointed. Apparently that was the only spell he could cast silently.

All of the spells sent his way were either harmlessly avoided or flicked away. Harry barely had to move more than a few inches.

This continued for a couple minutes until Harry grew bored. Ignoring the look of shock on his house mate's face, he sent out a burst of magical energy that stopped all his spells, followed by a silent expelliarmus.

He caught the disarmed wand with ease.

"An excellent display from . It never serves to underestimate your opponent, remember that!" Harry rolled his eyes at the professor's admission. The other student wouldn't have done any better if he knew his exact skill level.

The rest of the meeting was nothing more than an informative dialogue on proper tactical action. At least Green knew what his students needed to learn.

Students began making their way out, and Harry was almost through the door when the professor called him back.

"Harry! Stay back a bit would you?" He stopped and waited for the last of the students to clear out.

"Yes professor?" Green walked up to him, giving a calculative gaze.

"Follow me for a moment. I wish to speak with you." Harry shrugged and followed as Green made his way out of the room.

"Do you know why I called you up today Harry?" The question caught him off guard.

"Er-I assumed you wanted to do just as you said. Show the others how much you can learn by watching." The professor smiled and chuckled.

"We both know you didn't get that good just by watching Harry." He looked up at the professor, who was staring off into space.

"Sir?" Green shook his head lightly.

"No Harry, you've had practice. I called you up today to see just how good you've gotten, and allow me to say I was impressed." He chuckled again.

"Is there a point to this?" The professor raised a brow at his bluntness.

"While not the most subtle way to ask, yes there is. I want you to start taking third year classes." Harry's head whipped around to look at him.

"But...why?" His voice was incredulous and certainly undignified, but at the moment Harry hardly cared.

"For one thing your talent is being wasted in first year classes. Mostly though it has to do with extracurricular activities. In third year you'll be able to join any club you wish. To be honest, I think you should be in fourth or fifth year classes, but as it stands I was only able to push for third because of clubs." Harry was surprised by how freely the professor admitted this.

"I-I would like to professor. Thank you." Green gave a nod.

"Good. I was worried you might be difficult about this, and I would have to mention that I offered this deal to your brother as well. Which reminds me, you two aren't blood related are you?" The professor looked down at him.

"Ah, nevermind. It's none of my business. Come see me in the morning, I'll give you your new schedule then." The professor split off and began heading down another hallway. For a moment he stopped and then turned around, heading back towards Harry.

He smiled sheepishly when he got back. "Ahh, I forgot to ask what electives you want." Harry wondered how such an absentminded man could be Head of Ravenclaw house.

OoOoOo

Rodger frowned as he looked over the essay recently turned in by his star pupil, Harry Riddle. Somewhere in the back of his mind a small voice told him that the name didn't fit, but he ignored it.

Since he started working at Hogwarts, and indeed even before then, he had never seen such a magically talented individually. The fact that Harry was only eleven compounded the importance of this in his mind.

While he didn't dislike Harry, and certainly knew he wasn't cheating, a bad feeling always settled into the pit of his stomach whenever the boy came up, in thought or view. Asking him to start third year classes and encouraging him to join some clubs was more to satisfy his own suspicions than anything else.

It made him feel somewhat guilty, knowing the selfishness behind his actions. But he couldn't ease the instincts that told him that Harry James Riddle was not to be trusted. After ten years of watching his back in the mountains of Nepal, Rodger Green had learned to trust his instincts.

Perhaps that was the problem. What his instincts perceived as danger could simply be Harry's impressive (and surprising) strength.

Regardless, he would keep an eye on Harry. Tom was another one of his concerns. That child seemed to be the very definition of innocuous. His natural charisma and talent in class spoke otherwise though.

He sighed, setting down the essay and leaning back into his chair. They were only first years. For now, watching them was a prudent move, but anything more than that was overboard. When they were older, and truly capable of being dangerous, he would decide whether or not take action.

OoOoOo

"DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Ancient Runes, Modern Runes, Magical Theory, Herbology, and History of Magic. I hope you realize taking these classes is only going to hold back your progress in the subjects." Tom's stare was bland and unemotional as he handed back Harry's new schedule. For the first time, Harry could say for a fact that Tom was jealous of him.

Not jealous that he was taking classes ahead of their year, but jealous because his talent had been recognised. Tom, like Harry, was a very competitive person.

"They might, but the professors could also provide some insight into them that books cannot. Being able to participate in clubs makes it worth it either way though." Tom's frown turned into a scowl. That was not something he had considered, even if he had no interest in any of the clubs.

"Can the room provide food?" Harry turned and gave Luna a small smile. It was only minutes previous that he and Tom had introduced her to the Room of Requirement.

"It can. We tested the food on a frog for about a week, and when we took it out of the room it didn't have any problems." Luna tilted her head slightly to the side.

"Can the room make living things then as well?" Tom scowled.

"No, we took the frog from the lake. Now stop asking questions, if you wish to know more about the room ask it for a book about itself." He looked away from the blonde and put his attention on the book open on the table in front of him.

"'A person's elemental magic most often reflects on their personality. To unlock the elemental magic a person must first recognise and accept the deepest parts of themselves, regardless of their opinion of it.' At first I thought my element would be fire or ice, but they haven't worked and I can't think of any other element that reflects my personality." He turned to Harry, an expression of frustrated confusion on his face.

"Maybe you haven't accepted every part of your personality? Think Tom, what is something you don't like about yourself?" Tom furrowed his brow in thought.

Thinking about it, Harry believed Tom hadn't accepted his inherent greediness. It was a trait he had seen in his friend and brother for a long time but had never commented on. There was no reason to. Most of the time Tom used it for good, to satisfy his need of teaching other children what they had done wrong. Only recently had he started being selfish in more...well, selfish, ways.

"You'll figure it out eventually Tom." Harry received a smile in return, one of Tom's real ones.

"Right. Anyway, how much progress have you made with your element?" Tom stared into his eye. The question wasn't asked in spite, but the anger that lied beneath the surface of Tom's piercing gaze was obvious.

"I can create electricity at will, but at the moment I still need a wand to control it. My skill with using it is also rather limited. I haven't managed to do much more than direct it." Tom flipped the book closed.

For the next hour the boys dueled, occasionally one of them taking a turn against Luna. The blonde girl remained seated for most of the time, reading about any variety of subjects that caught her interest.

Eventually night came and the group returned to their dorms, Tom separating from Harry and Luna at the Great Hall.

Unseen by the trio, a slender figure watched them from the shadows, the person's gaze following a certain green eyed boy in particular.

 **And that's chapter three. I know it's short, I'm sorry. No way of lengthening it came to mind. Anyways, to make up for both the short chapter and having to wait so long for it I'm going to give you an extremely long chapter for the next update!**

 **Afterwards though chapters will move back to their usual size.**

 **As always, R and R, F and F, thanks**


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